Voices Newspaper, Turkey
Feb 17 2007

Minister looks at Article 301
Posted on Friday, February 16 @ 23:28:39 EET by editor

TURKEY’S Foreign Minister said Monday that the government was in
favour of amending a controversial article of the penal code dealing
with the crime of insulting Turkish identity.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that both he and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan were of the opinion that article 301 of Turkish
Penal Code should be amended.

`We are carrying out works regarding the issue together with
non-governmental organisations,’ Gul said during a press conference
with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

However, Gul said that pressure from either the US or Europe would
only add to the difficulties in changing the law.

`Article 301 is not an issue of Americans or Europeans, but it is our
own,’ he said. Gul said that he wanted to see article 301 amended as
the debate over it overshadowed Turkey’s reform process.

However, Gul denied suggestions that Turkey restricted freedom of
expression.

`People in Turkey are not jailed because of their expression of
thoughts,’ he said. `Today, people in Turkey can speak out anything
they want. Do not forget that we have had a number of amendments in
penal code, so that everyone in Turkey could speak out freely.’

Feb 17 2007